What tech gifts do you plan on buying this Christmas?

[midian182]

Christmas day is just one month away, and if you’re anything like me, it’s only now that you’ll start thinking about buying gifts for friends and family.

This year, people are expected to receive more tech products for Christmas than ever before. Many of these will have likely been bought during today’s record-breaking Black Friday, which has seen a huge number of discounts on products such as PCs, drones, and televisions.

For this weekend open forum, we’re asking what tech gifts do you plan to buy, or have already bought, this holiday season. Would you consider purchasing a new smartphone for someone? Do IoT devices make a good gift or are they just an invitation to hackers? Does the tech-savviness of a person dictate what you buy them? And which, if any, Black Friday deals did you take advantage of? Do let us know in the comments below.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/67178-weekend-open-forum-what-tech-gifts-do-you.html

 

[Bigtruckseries]

I spent some good money today. Snowblower, 60"TV, 32"TV, Tool Chest for the garage.

I was thinking about some kitchen upgrades to make my girl happy.

Not sure what my budget will be for the few family members who I will get something for. But the reality is I've already gotten them everything. We have everything. I got mom a Keurig and a computer last year. Got her a bunch of electronic kitchen appliances... Got my dad a .38 S&W to celebrate his concealed carry permit. The rest of my family members are getting a card and that's about it. It's not that I'm "cheap" it's that my republican ideology says don't spend frivolously.

 

[psycros]

I spent some good money today. Snowblower, 60"TV, 32"TV, Tool Chest for the garage.

I was thinking about some kitchen upgrades to make my girl happy.

Not sure what my budget will be for the few family members who I will get something for. But the reality is I've already gotten them everything. We have everything. I got mom a Keurig and a computer last year. Got her a bunch of electronic kitchen appliances... Got my dad a .38 S&W to celebrate his concealed carry permit. The rest of my family members are getting a card and that's about it. It's not that I'm "cheap" it's that my republican ideology says don't spend frivolously.

So no Macbook then? /ducks

I'm seriously on the fence about a new laptop. I'm just not very impressed with this year's computer discounts, although its a little better than 2015 where there were basically no deals. Guess they hoped nobody would notice. But they did.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

So no Macbook then? /ducks

I'm seriously on the fence about a new laptop. I'm just not very impressed with this year's computer discounts, although its a little better than 2015 where there were basically no deals. Guess they hoped nobody would notice. But they did.

I'd never buy a macbook. I prefer PC for my computing needs and I like Windows 10. If I needed a laptop, I'd buy a core i7 with a lot of RAM.

I bought my employees Core i5 HP laptops with 8GB of RAM and Windows 10.

 

[captaincranky]

I plan on buying myself a "B9" organ synthesizer for guitar by "electro-harmonix"...

Wut? You guys thought the only place you could find a new computer was the computer store?

Demo:

 

[hahahanoobs]

Black Aluminum smartphone stand.
I don't need anything else before Coffee Lake drops.

 

[EClyde]

Getting my daughter a SSD beyond that I don't need anything

 

[Kenrick]

I dont give tech gifts on christmas. If I start to give them techy gifts then I will have trouble giving them socks for the next christmas.

 

[Julio Franco]

A few tech gifts under the tree this year on my end. I'm getting my wife a new laptop after a few years, she's getting me the same Dell 4K monitor that we gave away a few weeks ago on the site, and I'm also getting this Skagen "smartwatch" that I wanted to mention in particular because it's a really good looking watch with some smarts built into it, not too expensive either.

 

[davislane1]

For family? Don't know yet. Won't be getting requests for another week.

As for my "wishlist":

VR headset
Backlog games
New keyboard/mouse
GTX 1080 FTW
1440p monitor
Sabaton DVD ("The Last Stand")
That synth Cracky posted above.*

*Would really like one of the synths Di Meola uses on acoustic.

 

[CortyDK]

None whatsoever. Christmas is just an overhyped bad excuse for spending way to much money.

In my family we all agree to meet at christmas and enjoy each others company with good food and plenty to drink, but no presents.

We all buy the things we need over the course of a year, so presents at christmas is just a bad excuse for spending.

If we see someone in the family needing something, and without the funds to buy it, we usually buy it and give it to him/her when needed, no matter what time of year, regardless of the date.

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]....Sabaton DVD ("The Last Stand")

Dear lord, it's a long, long, bumpy and raucous musical journey, from Sabaton to Al Di....

That synth Cracky posted above.*

Yeah, there's an extended set of those, 2 organ pedals, 1 keyboard, a Mellotron, and last but certainly not least, "The Ravish Sitar". They don't require a special pickup, and the tracking is spot on. They're not programmable though, save for the "Ravish". So you're limited to 9 basic patches per box.

*Would really like one of the synths Di Meola uses on acoustic.

It's probably the Roland, (if not custom made), which needs a special pickup. He's very cleverly attached all the black junk to the top of a black Ovation. It blends into the scenery perfectly. I watched a few of his videos. He's also plays a Godin "Multiac"

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I don't need to buy myself anything and I won't, but obviously I'll buy gifts for my family and some friends and they'll reciprocate. Isn't this what Xmas is supposed to all about?

 

[davislane1]

Dear lord, it's a long, long, bumpy and raucous musical journey, from Sabaton to Al Di....

My Spotify playlists (and music repertoire) could be called mildly schizophrenic. Can go from Disturbed to Piazzolla in as little as 3-minutes. From "Rex Tremendae" to "Roxanne" in...well, it depends on the performance. \m/

In any event... thx for the info on Di Meola's tech. Tried searching years ago and couldn't seem to turn up anything.

 

[captaincranky]

You're quite welcome. I just hope I'm right, but the Roland is one of the few out there.

Here's their latest offering: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/roland-gr-55-guitar-synthesizer

The pickup system: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GK3?product_id={product_id}&adpos=1o5&creative=55397627521&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KEQiAguXBBRCE_pbQ5reuq8MBEiQANji2LfJbA-gjaY-pqxFhLfZhnX6nCa_YFl7Te-ObCXMCIXAaAmOF8P8HAQ

And a Seymour Duncan blog on the topic: http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/guitar-synthesizers-and-the-use-of-hex-pickups

Carvin has been offering guitars with hex pickups for a couple of decades. I think they call them "synth access",or similar.

Here's some more alternate fun from electro-harmonix:

These you just plug any old guitar straight in with the standard 1/4". You can set the delay to swell in behind the guitar, and it will even track a heavily strummed 6 string acoustic.

From the quick watch I did on Al Di's videos, he was using a similar tactic and sounds, (sort of, strings and whatnot), where you hear the guitar, then the synth swells in behind the picked notes. Watch the Mel9 video..(y)

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Getting my daughter a SSD beyond that I don't need anything

Crucial MX300 270GB?

 

[Bigtruckseries]

None whatsoever. Christmas is just an overhyped bad excuse for spending way to much money.

When I was a kid in the 80's, it seemed to be more than an overhyped excuse to shop. It felt special. Now it's nothing more than an overhyped excuse to shop and eat like animals.

 

[EClyde]

Crucial MX300 270GB?

Only $80 today

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Only $80 today

It's a good choice. Took me 2 hours to clone my old drive to it with aomie backupper.

I also bought the Samsung 4TB. No noticeable speed difference.

 

[rvnwlfdroid]

I picked myself up a pair of the Samsung Iconx earbuds last month. We are not big on waiting until X-Mas to get what we want/need. I might have a new MetalWorks model to put together. lol.

 

[treeski]

Already bought Pixel XL and iPhone 7 Plus this year, so that's about it for technology this year.

 

[Uncle Al]

New Hearing Aids! .... well, not exactly tech, but it beats that old ear horn I've been toting around!

 

[Greg S]

I'm thinking about getting the Modmic 4.0 or a Shure MVL lavalier mic. I just got Audio Technica ATH-M40x headphones and those are pretty nice, now I just need a mic so I can use them when gaming.

That's about it on the tech list. I need socks, shirts, and cookware, but that's about it. Nothing terribly exciting.

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]...That's about it on the tech list. I need socks, shirts, and cookware, but that's about it. Nothing terribly exciting.

And after all, isn't that what the "spirit of Christmas" entails.

We lavish ourselves with tech toys all year long, then start whimpering about "thoughtlessness", when somebody gives us the socks and underwear we so desperately need, for Christmas..

 

[tonylukac]

Dear lord, it's a long, long, bumpy and raucous musical journey, from Sabaton to Al Di....

My Spotify playlists (and music repertoire) could be called mildly schizophrenic. Can go from Disturbed to Piazzolla in as little as 3-minutes. From "Rex Tremendae" to "Roxanne" in...well, it depends on the performance. \m/

In any event... thx for the info on Di Meola's tech. Tried searching years ago and couldn't seem to turn up anything.

No you call what you have anxiety. Schizophrenia is when you see hallucinations/visions and hear voices (of god?) like they did in revelation in the bible. Guess your right to religion in the constitution in the us allows you to go untreated if you had that disease and you wanted to be/make a profit.